


Soup

by PhantomFlutist



Category: VIXX
Genre: Crack, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 16:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomFlutist/pseuds/PhantomFlutist
Summary: Sanghyuk just wanted to finish work and go home. He wasn't expecting the guy he finds sleeping in the soup aisle, and he definitely wasn't counting on falling in love.





	Soup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [awesomerosie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomerosie/gifts).



> I'm pretty sure this came from a prompt but now I can't find it. Also the working title was 'Soup' for so long that I decided to just say 'screw it' and make that the permanent title because I don't feel like trying to come up with something else. Enjoy!

 

It’s Sanghyuk’s first time closing the store by himself. He’s done it _with_ other people plenty of times. He totally knows what he’s doing: usher the last customers out the door as politely as possible, lock the door, pull the drawers from the registers, do the necessary paperwork, put them in the safe. Wave at the security camera as he does it, just to acknowledge that he knows they’re watching him. Then he goes to clean up, sweep floors and wipe counters, make sure there isn’t any product on the floor. Easy peasy.

Except for a slight problem: there’s a guy sleeping in the soup aisle. Sanghyuk is like ninety percent sure the guy wasn’t there when he did the final call, and there’s no way anyone could have snuck past between the last customer leaving and Sanghyuk locking the door because the register is literally right in front of the entrance. But the guy _is_ there, somehow, and he’s really tall and kind of scary-looking, and he’s just sitting on the floor of the soup aisle, leaning up against the shelves and seemingly fast asleep. None of this was covered in Sanghyuk’s extensive training.

So, step one is figure out why the guy is even there. Sanghyuk approaches cautiously (because who knows, this could be a really covert robbery, the guy could have a knife) and crouches near him, reaching out to poke his shoulder gently. “Um, excuse me, sir,” he says, his voice quieter than it would be if the sleeping guy didn’t look quite so intimidating. Why does he have such a serious face even when he’s sleeping?

There’s no response. Sanghyuk was half expecting to get jumped and to have to surrender the contents of the safe, which would so get him fired, so it’s a bit of a relief that the guy doesn’t even stir. “Look,” he says, emboldened by the lack of danger, “We’re closed, and I really want to go home, so can you please leave.”

Dark eyes blink open, and oh god, if the guy looked intimidating before, the glare he’s giving Sanghyuk now is downright terrifying. He’s literally seconds from bolting when the man says, in a high, scratchy voice, “I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

He sounds like an angel…a really sick angel. Sanghyuk’s brows draw together and he wrinkles his nose in concern. “Are you okay?” he asks cautiously. The man seems perfectly polite, but he’s also still scary as hell, so Sanghyuk will opt to err on the side of caution.

The man nods, pushing himself into a standing position and swaying as soon as he lets go of the shelf that was supporting him. Sanghyuk catches him beneath the armpits before he can fall and crack his head open on a shelf because that has ‘lawsuit’ and ‘fired’ written all over it. “Oh,” the man says softly. His voice is such a contrast to his face, not to mention the muscles that are shown off in the loose tank top he’s wearing.

Sanghyuk is clutching bare skin, one bicep and the side of the other man’s ribcage to keep him upright. He’s getting distracted by it, by the play of muscles beneath all that pale skin, and then he realizes: shit, this guy’s really hot. Like, temperature wise, though he’s also very attractive and that’s not something that Sanghyuk should be focused on right now. “I think you have a fever. Maybe you should go to the hospital.”

“No, I’m fine,” the man insists, attempting to pull away and almost falling again. He would have if Sanghyuk hadn’t reached out to catch him. He sighs heavily when he realizes that he’s not likely to even make it out of the store by himself, let alone get home.

“Alright,” Sanghyuk says, shifting so that the guy’s arm is over his shoulders and Sanghyuk’s is around his waist. “I’m pretty much done here anyway. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

\---

His name is Jung Taekwoon, he’s five years older than Sanghyuk, and he’s been living on his own for three months. In that time, he’s nearly burnt his apartment building down three times, gotten cursed out by no less than six irate neighbors about playing the piano at all hours of the night, lost his cat, and gotten pneumonia.

“Her name is Princess,” he tells Sanghyuk very seriously. His words are also slightly slurred, either from the fever or because they’ve got him on one hell of a drug cocktail. Walking pneumonia, the doctor had said, but that still meant that Taekwoon should have been resting at home, rather than running all over creation looking for a stupid cat.

Sanghyuk is not sure why he’s still here, other than that Taekwoon seems lonely and sad and Sanghyuk feels kind of responsible for him now that he’s brought him to the hospital. They’re keeping him overnight, so Sanghyuk could probably go home, come back in the morning and make sure that Taekwoon gets home okay if he’s really that worried. But for some reason it feels like the fact that Taekwoon is telling him these things makes him special—like Taekwoon doesn’t often talk to people like this.

“She’s probably scared,” Taekwoon says, tugging at Sanghyuk’s sleeve. “Seoul is so big and loud and she might not know how to get home. What if she’s hurt?”

“We’ll find her,” Sanghyuk finds himself promising. Because that’s exactly what he needs: responsibility for not only a man he’s never met before, but also his cat.

Taekwoon nods, like this appeases him, and sinks back into the pillows. “She’s white, with a big black spot right on her butt. She pretends that she doesn’t like people but she’ll cuddle anyone who sits still for long enough.” His eyes are drifting closed, and in the next moment he’s asleep, probably dreaming of his cat.

Sanghyuk sits there for a little while wondering what the hell he’s gotten himself into. He’s always been pretty good at not getting involved in things that were not his business, but for some reason he just…wants to take care of Taekwoon. Maybe it’s because while he looks large and intimidating, he’s clearly a giant softie. Or maybe it’s just because Sanghyuk finds him unreasonably attractive and doesn’t mind staring at his face even when it’s flushed and sweaty from fever.

He should go home. Taekwoon is in good hands here and there’s really no reason for Sanghyuk to stay. And he has almost no hope of finding Taekwoon’s cat tonight, since he doesn’t even know where to start looking, so going home is really the best option. He’ll come back tomorrow, before his classes start, and make sure that Taekwoon’s okay.

He tells himself that, but somehow he ends up with Taekwoon’s hand tucked inside his, his head resting on the bed beside Taekwoon’s hip, and feeling awfully sleepy.

\---

Sanghyuk wakes to a buzzing in his lap and a crick in his neck. His first thought is that he fell asleep in the living room and Wonshik left him there—it would not be the first time. But he’s bent over, not curled up on the floor, and there’s definitely a hand in his.

Taekwoon looks better than he did when Sanghyuk fell asleep. His face is softer now, like the reason he looked so grumpy was just because he was in pain. Sanghyuk hopes that Taekwoon isn’t in pain anymore.

His phone buzzes again, and Sanghyuk realizes that he’s been staring. In the next second, it occurs to him that the reason his phone is going off is because that’s his alarm, and that if he doesn’t get home and shower he’s going to have to go to class in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday.

But he hesitates, staring at Taekwoon’s sleeping face. He shouldn’t have to wake up alone. Sanghyuk knows that there are doctors and nurses that will take care of Taekwoon, but that feels impersonal. It might be nice to have someone there who’s just a friendly face.

Sanghyuk’s phone buzzes again and he curses in his head. He can’t miss this class. He’s pretty sure they have a test today and that he should have spent last night studying instead of taking care of a guy he doesn’t even know. But now he feels responsible for Taekwoon and he did promise to help him find his cat. Just because Sanghyuk doesn’t know why he did it in the first place doesn’t mean he should just go back on his word.

He settles for leaving a note, finally, telling Taekwoon that he’ll be back and that he hasn’t forgotten about Princess. _‘We’ll find her. Everything’s going to be okay,’_ he writes before he can think better of it. It’s already on the paper in pen, and he could start over but then he definitely won’t be able to shower before class and pretty much everyone at his university already thinks that he’s crazy. Sanghyuk doesn’t want to give them any more evidence.

\---

They do have a test, and Sanghyuk’s pretty sure that he bombs it, but it’s done and over and he hates that class and the professor anyway. He’ll deal with it later. At least he managed to get home and shower and still get to class on time.

Against his better judgment, Sanghyuk finds himself back at the hospital after class. To be honest, he’s not sure that Taekwoon will want him here when his fever is down and he’s not hopped up on meds. But Sanghyuk’s mother taught him to always carry through on his promises, so he’s here, hoping that Taekwoon won’t decide to throw things at him or something.

When Sanghyuk enters Taekwoon’s hospital room, Taekwoon is sitting up in bed, back in his own clothes and staring at the phone in his hand.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk says. He feels bad for leaving Taekwoon here alone. He shouldn’t, because there was plenty of perfectly capable hospital staff here to look after him, but he does.

Taekwoon’s head jerks up in surprise and he stares at Sanghyuk with wide eyes. He’s cute, Sanghyuk thinks, in a very terrifying way. When his face isn’t all pinched, his wide build isn’t quite so intimidating and Sanghyuk finds he can approach the bed without trembling.

He sits casually in the chair beside the bed and says, “So it looks like they’re letting you out of here? That’s good.”

Taekwoon nods once, and then spends several moments with his face turned into his sleeve while violent coughs wrack his body. Are they really sure that he’s ready to go home? “They told me to go home and rest. But they wouldn’t let me leave without a guardian.”

Ah, so that’s why he was sitting here. “So do you have someone coming to get you?” Sanghyuk asks.

“They just arrived.” Taekwoon is staring at him pointedly, but Sanghyuk still ends up looking around the room curiously for a moment before he realizes that Taekwoon meant _him._

“Oh.” He didn’t exactly sign up for playing nursemaid for a stranger, but he guesses, if Taekwoon really doesn’t have anyone else…. “Yeah, sure, why not,” he decides. He stands and offers Taekwoon a shoulder. What can it hurt? It’s not like Taekwoon is in any condition to mug him, or do anything sinister like that. The worst that can happen is Sanghyuk might catch pneumonia from him, but since Taekwoon’s on antibiotics and stuff he’s pretty sure that’s unlikely. It’ll be fine, he tells himself.

\---

It’s not fine. Taekwoon’s apartment is a mess—laundry piled everywhere, dirty dishes stacked in the sink, garbage spilling out of the trash can—and Sanghyuk barely manages to help Taekwoon across the single, postage-stamp-sized room to the little mattress in the far corner. It’s too short for Taekwoon, and when he flops down face-first his feet hang off the edge.

“You really haven’t ever lived alone before, have you?” Sanghyuk asks, eyeing the mess with distaste. Wonshik and Sanghyuk aren’t the best at cleaning, but even so their place never gets _this_ bad.

Taekwoon shakes his head and muffles another series of coughs into his pillow. “Lived with my parents until three months ago,” he mumbles. And then, in a slightly more dreamy tone that Sanghyuk suspects means he’s falling asleep, he adds, “Now it’s just me and Princess.”

“Awesome,” Sanghyuk says. It is not awesome. It is anything _but_ awesome, and now Sanghyuk has somehow acquired semi-permanent responsibility for a grown man and his cat.

Taekwoon doesn’t reply, but his breathing has deepened and Sanghyuk is pretty sure that he’s asleep.

“Awesome,” Sanghyuk says again into the silent room. Just what he’s always wanted. But he’s here now, and he doesn’t really feel like he should leave Taekwoon alone, especially when he’s asleep. “Fine,” he sighs, approaching the overfilled sink with some trepidation. It’s not that he dislikes doing dishes, but he’s not even sure how he’s going to manage these without some space to work.

Two hours, a pile of dishes, an adventure in sorting Taekwoon’s trash, and a load of laundry later, Sanghyuk actually feels…really good. Sure, he didn’t know Taekwoon until last night and he didn’t exactly mean to end up responsible for him, but the guy definitely needed some help and Sanghyuk doesn’t actually mind that much. Besides, it meant that he got to procrastinate on his homework for two hours, which is always a bonus.

He’s actually just settling down on Taekwoon’s floor with his huge backpack when Taekwoon finally stirs in a way that’s not just coughing in his sleep. He stretches out his impossibly long limbs (Sanghyuk is aware that they’re about the same height, but for some reason Taekwoon seems _huge_ ) and inhales slowly and then his eyes open and he looks at Sanghyuk. After a moment he startles, and Sanghyuk thinks that he probably just registered that there was a person in his apartment.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk mumbles, wiggling his fingers at Taekwoon in a sad excuse for a wave.

He gets a blank stare for his troubles, and then Taekwoon sits up. He falls into a coughing fit midway and almost falls back onto the bed, holding his forearm to his face in an attempt to muffle the coughs.

It’s pathetic, frankly, and Sanghyuk sighs and goes to get him a glass of water, presses it into his hand and waits until he’s sure that Taekwoon has a good grip on it before he lets go.

Eventually the coughing stops, and Taekwoon sets the glass down and then actually does collapse back onto the bed, looking defeated. “This sucks,” he mumbles.

Yeah, Sanghyuk knows the feeling. He had bronchitis when he was fifteen and he could barely breathe without coughing for a solid month. But his coughs had sounded nothing like Taekwoon’s do now: wet and hacking and like he can’t even get a solid breath in. Sanghyuk wonders if it was really a good idea to let him go home.

Taekwoon’s head lolls to the side so he can look at Sanghyuk. “Sorry,” he says. “You don’t even know me.”

Sanghyuk shakes his head before he thinks it through. “Not a problem,” he insists. He’s not sure that it’s the absolute truth because like…he does have classes and work and studying and he doesn’t normally have a lot of extra hours in the day even without taking care of someone who’s deathly ill. But Taekwoon needed _someone_ and Sanghyuk was there. He doesn’t know how many other people would have done more than kick Taekwoon out of the store, or maybe call an ambulance for him.

Taekwoon waves a slightly floppy hand around at the room. “You cleaned my apartment, and brought me home from the hospital, and sat beside me all night to make sure I was okay. That’s not…something that most people would do for a total stranger.”

Sanghyuk finds himself blushing. He pulls his knees up towards his chest and clears his throat, and manages to say, “Yeah, well, you needed help. And clearly you’re terrible at taking care of yourself, so.”

Taekwoon’s little smile is worth like a thousand candy bars. Sanghyuk feels the little tug in his stomach but refuses to acknowledge it. “I guess I need someone to take care of me then,” Taekwoon says. It’s not coy or flirtatious. It’s literally just a statement of fact, an admission of his own weakness, but for some reason it feels like he’s asking Sanghyuk to stay with him.

“Well,” Sanghyuk says, trying to match Taekwoon’s matter-of-fact tone, “I guess I’m stuck with you, then.”

Taekwoon’s smile fades as he falls asleep again, but Sanghyuk can still feel his face burning and can see the impression of that smile every time he closes his eyes.

\---

Sanghyuk does his homework and then Taekwoon wakes up around the time that Sanghyuk is attempting to scrounge something up for dinner. When he sees that Taekwoon is awake, Sanghyuk asks, “Are you aware that you have basically nothing edible in this apartment?”

Taekwoon stares at him for a moment, coughs, and then finally says, “You found me asleep in the soup aisle of a late-night supermarket.”

Oh god, he’s right. Sanghyuk didn’t really even think about _why_ Taekwoon might have been in the store. Of course, he was kind of focused on the fact that he was asleep and feverish and slightly terrifying, the last of which Sanghyuk is starting to see is really not as true as he thought. But maybe that’s just because Taekwoon has pneumonia and _anyone_ would look pathetic while attempting to hack up a lung.

“Right, okay,” Sanghyuk says. “You need real food in order to get better, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna run down to the nearest shop and pick up something for dinner, and we’re gonna eat and then I really have to go to work. Okay?”

Taekwoon just shrugs. “Do what you want. It’s not like I can stop you,” he says, and then he flops backwards onto the bed again and lays there wheezing pathetically.

“Right,” Sanghyuk says again. He checks to make sure that he has his wallet and phone, then as an afterthought picks Taekwoon’s phone up from the floor next to the bed and calls himself. “There,” he says, setting it back down, “now you have my number. Call me if you’re dying or something.”

He leaves his backpack there and slips out of the apartment, intent on finding something edible and mostly healthy at the convenience store he remembers seeing down the street. He can get proper groceries from work later and bring them back and then…he realizes that he’s thinking like this is a permanent thing. But it’ll be late when he gets off work, and Taekwoon will probably just be asleep anyway. He’ll be fine. Right?

His phone buzzes and Sanghyuk glances down, sees that it’s a text from the number that he’s saved as ‘Taekwoon-hyung’ for lack of better title, and swipes it open. It’s only one word, accompanied by a coffee cup emoji with a heart-shaped swirl of steam coming out of it.

 **From: Taekwoon-hyung**  
_Latte_

 _Well then,_ Sanghyuk thinks, _guess I’m stuck with him._

\---

For some reason, Sanghyuk’s shift that night feels like the longest one of his life. More than once, he catches his mind drifting back to Taekwoon, wondering if he’s okay. He can’t help but remember the exhausted way Taekwoon had slumped against the wall all through dinner. He’d refused most of the food but drank the entire Starbucks latte that Sanghyuk had brought back with him. At least he’d had some of the soup, if nothing else. Still, Sanghyuk would feel better if Taekwoon had eaten.

God, he’s in deep. He can’t stop himself from thinking about Taekwoon and it’s stupid because they’ve only known each other a day. Damn the man and his pouting and general pathetic-ness and his adorable face. _Wait, what?_

Sanghyuk perhaps needs to rethink this entire situation.

He buys groceries during his break and then helps his coworker (a bubbly man named Jaehwan, who _cannot stop talking_ ) close the store.

He _does not_ speed-walk back to Taekwoon’s apartment. It’s just a short walk. Really, Taekwoon’s apartment isn’t that far from Sanghyuk’s own, which makes sense. Sanghyuk works at the store because it’s close to home; Taekwoon probably shops there for the same reason.

When Sanghyuk lets himself into Taekwoon’s apartment (and really, it’s weird that he’s known the man for a _day_ and he already has the code to his door) he thinks at first that Taekwoon’s asleep. The entire room is dark save for the city lights coming in the window, and Taekwoon is lying on the bed where Sanghyuk left him. Except he realizes as he comes farther into the room to put the groceries away that there’s a soft blue glow near Taekwoon’s head.

“You should be sleeping,” Sanghyuk says, flicking the lights on so that he can see to put things in the fridge.

Taekwoon rolls onto his back and drops his phone onto his chest. Sanghyuk can’t tell if it was on purpose or if his hand just gave out. “How am I supposed to sleep with the lights on?” he asks.

Sanghyuk snorts. “You did fine earlier,” he points out. He pulls a banana milk from the pack he bought, stabs the straw into it and walks the three steps over to the bed to hand it to Taekwoon. “Here, drink. Have you taken your pills?”

Taekwoon accepts the milk but doesn’t sit up. He shakes his head. “I forgot.”

Sanghyuk really can’t help the sigh, even though it makes him feel like Hakyeon, the TA for one of his classes who has a tendency to ‘adopt’ younger students as his own. He tries not to think about the fact that he’s mothering a man five years his senior and focuses instead on finding Taekwoon’s pills, getting him water, and then finishing with the groceries.

“Thank you,” Taekwoon says softly. He’s sitting up now, and the little packet of medication is empty on the floor beside his water glass. He sips slowly at the banana milk and doesn’t look Sanghyuk in the eyes.

 _Cute_ , Sanghyuk’s brain offers him again, and he ignores it. “You’re welcome,” he says.

He thinks he sees a smile tug at Taekwoon’s lips, but it’s hard to tell from this angle.

\---

Sanghyuk lets out an exhausted breath as he lets himself into the apartment and kicks off his shoes. It has been a really long day, and he just wants to sleep.

“Dude, where have you been?” Wonshik’s voice asks from the living room.

Sanghyuk rounds the corner and sees him sitting in one of the beanbag chairs they have in lieu of a couch. He’s slouched so far he’s almost lying down and his laptop is perched on his stomach, glowing bright in the half-lit room. The lights are on in the bathroom and their narrow galley kitchen, but the living room lights are inexplicably off, so everything is thrown into strange shadow.

But this isn’t unusual (Wonshik has probably been there since before it got dark and didn’t want to get up to turn on the lights) so Sanghyuk smacks the light switch on his way past to plop down into the other beanbag chair. “Work,” he grunts. It’s half true.

Wonshik slides his headphones from his head (one ear on and one off, for some reason) to rest around his neck, and he raises an eyebrow at Sanghyuk. “It’s two AM,” he points out. “You got off work like an hour and a half ago.”

Sanghyuk doesn’t really want to explain Taekwoon to Wonshik. But they’re kind of best friends and have been roommates forever and well…just in case Taekwoon’s a serial killer or something it might be a good idea for someone to know where he is. So he admits, “I met this guy.”

Wonshik makes a cooing noise and teases, “Aw, our Sangyukkie is all grown up and making friends!”

Sanghyuk smacks his shoulder, lighter than he could and Wonshik knows it. “Shut up, hyung,” he complains. “He was literally passed out in the store. I had to take him to the hospital.” And then, with Wonshik’s eyes widening comically as he talks, Sanghyuk explains the situation.

When he’s finished, Wonshik asks, “So you want in his pants, yeah?”

Sanghyuk blinks at him, processes that for a moment, and then deadpans, “What the hell, hyung.”

“What? You like him, right? You think he’s hot. So go for it; I don’t judge.” Wonshik’s facial expression is infuriating and Sanghyuk doesn’t even know what it _means_.

“You’re kidding, right?” he asks. “Did you miss the part where I said he had _pneumonia_? Even if I wanted in his pants, I wouldn’t take advantage of someone like that. I’m not an asshole, hyung.”

Wonshik chuckles and reaches out to pat Sanghyuk’s shoulder. “So wait until he’s better, and _then_ get in his pants.”

“Why am I friends with you,” Sanghyuk says.

Wonshik shrugs, more mirth sliding up his throat the longer he tries to hold it in. “Beats me. I figure you just keep me around so you can make rent.”

That’s not the only reason and they both know it, but right now Sanghyuk doesn’t feel charitable enough to remind Wonshik that they’ve been best friends since grade school because Sanghyuk used to get bullied and Wonshik is a pretty good bodyguard. He knows he owes Wonshik a lot.

But he still doesn’t want in Taekwoon’s pants. He _doesn’t._

\---

He wants in Taekwoon’s pants. Kind of a lot.

It’s been a week, and Taekwoon has given up on wearing shirts inside his apartment now that he’s not feverish anymore. Sanghyuk is aware that the late spring air is very warm, and that really, clothes are not _entirely_ necessary inside one’s own home, but he can’t even _think_ with all those toned muscles on display and it’s becoming a detriment to his mental health.

Unfortunately, he can’t come up with a solid reason why Taekwoon should put on a shirt. He could say that he’s uncomfortable, but since they’re both guys the question remains _why_ he’s uncomfortable, and that is really not something he wants to get into. How do you tell a person, _‘Hey, I know we’ve only known each other a week but I very much want you to fuck me and if you don’t put a shirt on_ right now _I’m probably going to roll over and beg for it’_? He doesn’t think that would go over well.

So he suffers for every minute that he spends in Taekwoon’s apartment making him food and doing his dishes and making sure that he takes his pills. He’s given up trying to do his homework here; he can’t focus long enough to read even a single sentence before pale skin pulls his eyes away. Damn Taekwoon anyway for being so damn perfect.

And damn Sanghyuk for wanting him, probably. After all, Taekwoon was sick and just needed someone to be there for him. He wasn’t expecting to get a fuck buddy out of the deal and Sanghyuk really doesn’t want Taekwoon to think that that’s the only reason he’s here. Because he really, genuinely wants to help Taekwoon. But still, there is absolutely no logical reason that he should find Taekwoon attractive while he’s attempting to cough up a lung. No one is attractive while coughing up a lung.

No one except Taekwoon apparently, because Sanghyuk keeps catching himself staring. He feels like the worst kind of person.

Taekwoon leans over to pick something up off the floor and Sanghyuk’s theory is further enforced when he spends a too-long moment staring at the dip of Taekwoon’s waist over a little swell of butt and thinking about how nice those hips would be to grip while he was….

Sanghyuk is the worst kind of person.

“We should go look for Princess,” Taekwoon says, out of the blue. He’s standing at the sink, sipping what Sanghyuk thinks might be like his fifteenth glass of water today and staring at Sanghyuk with these ridiculous pleading eyes. “She’s been missing for a week. Who knows what’s happened to her? She’s probably scared.”

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk starts, trying to come up with a kind way of saying that there’s probably no way they’re going to find her at this point. She could be literally anywhere in the city by now, has maybe been picked up by someone else or—god forbid—been hit by a car.

In the end, though, he doesn’t have to say anything at all, because there’s a scratching at the door and then a loud, plaintive meow.

Numbly, Sanghyuk shuffles over to the door and opens it. He can’t seem to do anything but stare as the fattest cat he’s ever seen streaks into the room and immediately starts rubbing herself against Taekwoon’s legs. She’s all white with this huge black patch on her ass, and so Sanghyuk assumes this must be Taekwoon’s missing cat.

He’s proved right when Taekwoon exclaims, “Princess!” and then promptly falls into another coughing fit. He fumbles his glass of water and ends up dropping it into the sink, where it shatters into like a hundred pieces against the stainless steel and makes the most terrifying noise Sanghyuk has ever heard. It startles Princess and she tries to make a break for it, and it’s only Sanghyuk’s quick reflexes that keep her from escaping right back out the door she just came in.

Somehow, Taekwoon ends up sitting on the floor, curled around a disgruntled cat who keeps flailing in an attempt at escape. He’s coughing pathetically, these sad little breathless noises that are like hiccups but more painful-sounding.

Sighing heavily, Sanghyuk gets him a new glass of water and puts it in his hand. Then he unwraps a lozenge, holds it out for Taekwoon to take, but instead of accepting it with his fingers, Taekwoon sort of…eats it out of his hand. And then he looks up at Sanghyuk through his eyelashes and he can’t know what he’s doing, right? There is no way that Taekwoon is brushing his plush lips against Sanghyuk’s fingers and giving him coy looks _on purpose_.

His face flushing hot, probably making him look like Taekwoon when he was feverish, Sanghyuk turns his attention to the broken glass in the sink. Trying to figure out how he’s going to clean it up without cutting himself is better than thinking about other places that Taekwoon could put that pretty little mouth.

When Taekwoon’s coughing is under control and Princess has retreated to the window ledge, Sanghyuk hears a soft, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Sanghyuk mumbles, still focused on carefully picking shards of glass out of the sink.

He doesn’t even notice Taekwoon standing up or approaching him until his arms are wrapped around Sanghyuk’s waist and his chin is propped on Sanghyuk’s shoulder. But then he’s there and he’s saying, “Really, thank you, Hyuk-ah. You didn’t…have to take care of me. But I’m glad you did.”

“It was just a lozenge, hyung,” Sanghyuk says, trying not to spontaneously combust. Taekwoon doesn’t mean anything by this, right? He’s just being affectionate because he’s grateful.

“Not just for that,” Taekwoon murmurs. He pulls back some, turns away to cough and then goes back to resting his chin on Sanghyuk’s shoulder. His weight is actually kind of comfortable. Sanghyuk could get used to this. “You didn’t know me until a week ago, but you’ve been sacrificing your studies for me.”

Sanghyuk shakes his head. He’s stopped picking up the glass. He doesn’t trust his hands to keep steady enough for that right now. “I haven’t. My grades are fine, hyung. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me.” Taekwoon’s arms squeeze tight around Sanghyuk’s belly. “I like you, Hyuk-ah.”

He doesn’t mean that the way Sanghyuk thinks. He can’t possibly. They’ve known each other for a _week_. Sanghyuk pats his hand. “I like you too, hyung.”

Taekwoon mumbles, “Good,” and then presses a lingering kiss to Sanghyuk’s neck.

 _Oh_.

Or he does mean it, all of it. Which is crazy. They were strangers a week ago. There’s no logical reason that they should have feelings for each other already.

“You should sleep, hyung,” Sanghyuk says. He’ll just…he’ll deal with it later. Taekwoon probably doesn’t even mean it. He’s sick; he doesn’t know what he’s saying.

He ignores the fact that Taekwoon’s fever broke four days ago. He just…can’t do this right now.

Taekwoon drops another kiss to Sanghyuk’s cheek and then extracts his arms, goes to flop down on his bed and gets a fat ball of fluff curled up next to him and purring against his chest. He’s probably just happy that Princess came back. He’s probably just grateful to Sanghyuk for helping him, taking care of him. In a few days he’ll be better and then he won’t need Sanghyuk anymore and they’ll go back to…well, not to being strangers, probably, but they’ll just be friends.

He _can’t_ like Sanghyuk. It’s impossible.

\---

Six days later, Sanghyuk is starting to think that maybe Taekwoon actually _does_ like him. As his cough gets better and better, he’s been growing even more weirdly affectionate. He keeps hugging Sanghyuk, and kissing his cheeks, his forehead, his neck. And when he’s lying down, sometimes he’ll tug Sanghyuk down onto the bed with him and wrap his long limbs around Sanghyuk like a barnacle and just…fall asleep like that.

Sanghyuk doesn’t know what to do. Like, logically he knows what people who are dating do, but is that what they are? They haven’t talked about it again since the day that Princess came back. And at this point it’s kind of awkward to bring it up and so he’s just been letting Taekwoon do what he wants but not initiating anything himself.

It feels stupid. _He_ feels kind of stupid. He’s not usually this bad at addressing things.

So then it’s sort of surprising when on day six of whatever this thing is, Taekwoon is sitting on his bed with Princess in his lap, stroking slowly over her soft fur with one hand and playing on his phone with the other, and suddenly he says, “When I’m better, we should go on an actual date.”

Sanghyuk’s eyes snap up from his textbook (which he’d been staring at and not actually reading, as is the usual when he’s at Taekwoon’s place) and he just…stares for a bit. “Really?” he asks.

Taekwoon nods and doesn’t even look up from his phone. “Yeah. I’ll try not to pass out on you this time.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk mumbles. His lips feel numb. “That would be good.”

Maybe his tone alerts Taekwoon to his absolute mind-numbing shock, because he looks up from his phone and says, “That is…if you want to? I mean, I’ve heard that’s what couples do.”

Sanghyuk feels a dumb smile spreading on his face. This whole thing is dumb. They’ve known each for _two weeks_ , for fucks’ sake. “We’re a couple?” he asks.

Taekwoon suddenly looks unsure, his brow getting all crinkly. “I thought so,” he says. “I mean. If you want to be?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk says, and then has to swallow hard. “Yeah, I definitely want to be.”

He’s an idiot. They’re both idiots, but Taekwoon is smiling at him and saying, “Good. We should go to a theme park and ride all the rollercoasters.”

Sanghyuk feels his mouth pulling up in a matching grin. “That sounds awesome.”

This is the worst idea. But Sanghyuk doesn’t particularly care.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://phantomflutist.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PhantomFlutist) for writing updates, spoilers, ranting, and more!


End file.
